The program is open to kids ages 6 and 7, and teaches them the essentials of balanced skiing. In order to join this program, kids must at a minimum be able to turn and stop on command on a GREEN run, and be comfortable loading and sitting on a chairlift.

Independent five-year-old kids with good skills may join the program as well, but will require at least one of their parents to be present at each training session and during races. These young skiers must be able to parallel ski or be strong pizza skiers. Consideration will only be given to five year old's with siblings already in the program. Contact us if you have a five-year-old child who wants to join and meets these requirements so we can do an on-snow assessment.

Through a series of sessions full of drills and exercises, our mission is to create skiers who can go down every run on the mountain with style. The goal is to make the children confident parallel skiers with a relaxed athletic stance. This will all be carried out in a fun-filled learning environment. Yes, there may be tears but there will be a lot of laughter and enjoyment.

There will be a lot of skiers with a variety of different skiing skills, so the coaches will place them into groups that are appropriate for their abilities. The U8 program will give the kids a solid foundation of skills and prepare them for the U10 program.

During these early development years, the program fosters a love of skiing while focusing on the development of basic balance, control and movement on snow. These objectives are achieved through all-mountain free skiing tactics, drills, drill courses, game-like activities suitable for the age and professionalism of coaches.

Our club's expert head coaches design the winter training plan and lay out the developmental priorities to the coaching staff. Alpine Canada's Snowstars program is used as a progression and evaluation guideline. For the U8 kids we aim to employ instructors/coaches with good parenting skills. This also means that we would like any club members/parents with good skiing skills and an interest in coaching kids to come forward and express their interest.

The U8 program starts the first weekend of January and runs every weekend till the end of March. The kids also take part in night skiing at Grouse with the choice of Tuesdays or Thursdays for theduration of the season.

Families are encouraged to take advantage of December snow conditions and get their kids skiing as much as possible. Grouse Mountain has great day programs available through its snow school.

It is very important that the kids start coming to the sessions right from day one, so they can be grouped with other skiers of similar ability. Please notez that some switching around may take place and will require your patience. Groups are arranged following the Tyee U8 coaches' assessment and are approved by the U8 Head Coach and Program Director.

Training times for this group are approximately 7:30am-2:30pm on weekends and approx 5:30-8:30pm on weeknights. Coaches meet their groups at the bottom of the hill and load up with the kids. (If you arrive late, it is your responsibility to locate the group on the mountain.)

Racing opportunities for this group are moderate and the focus is on team success. Please note that home or away race event fees are not included in the program fees. Details on these will be announced in a timely fashion and will be published on our calendar with the race notice.

Most up to date schedule can be found under Program Calendars. - please, check out the upcoming event section for correct dates for the spring skiing sessions.

Please note that U8 racers are invited to attend the December club race and April Tyee Day with their parents.